Lotta!

Version 2 was rewritten for iOS 7 with a new icon. The new version 2.1 is updated for iOS 8 and the iPhone 6.

This trivial app for the iPhone and iPod touch will generate pseudorandom number sequenses for you favorite lottery. The numbers are mathematically derived and thus not truly random. This should have little practical relevance, however, as the number generator is seeded with the current date and time, making each new number series almost unique.

Touch the large green Play button or simply shake your device to generate a new number sequence. The numbers and other settings are remembered if you are disturbed by a phone call, or have to leave the app.
As a nifty extra, you can touch a favorite number once to include it the current sequence (green square), or touch an unwanted number twice to exclude it (pink square). Another touch will reset the number back to normal. You can also use the Reset button to clear all marked numbers. The maximum number of inclusions or exclusions is equal to the length of the current random sequence.
Shown here is the new extended version for the four inch screen. The red result bar displays the chosen numbers sorted numerically. The smaller screen will not show this view.

Lotta! will handle all your lotteries for you. Just touch the Games button to show a list of all preconfigured games. Touch a game title to select it. This is how the list might look to a Swedish user.

Use the Edit button when you need to delete a game, to add a new one, or to edit an existing game. It is possible to remove all unwanted titles exept one. Touch an item in the list to edit its parameters or its title. Renamed titles are added to the list, remove the original title if it is not required anymore. Touch the Done button when you have finished your edits. This is the Japanese version.

Use the pickers to enter the size of the lottery and how many numbers to randomize. Some games require you to enter a second number, this feature can be enabled with the two righthand picker wheels (see below).
The minimum game size is 24 and the maximum 99. At least one random number is generated but not more than 20. Touch the title field if you want to edit a game title or enter a new one.

Some lotteries allows you to pick a number from a second game in addition to the basic lottery. Lotta! will accommodate this by adding a second game with different settings from the first one. Flip between the two games with the help of the arrow button.

The second game is enabled simply by setting the second pair of picker wheels to the required numbers. Remove the second game by setting its size to zero.

The colors of the number squares have been carefully chosen not only to look nice, but also to be recognizable to those with limited color vision. If this does not work for you, please let me know at the address below.

Version list

Version 1.1 primarily provides support for the higher resolution of the iPhone 4 Retina Display. In addition, other parts of the user interface has been updated slightly. The second game arrow button is now green and will not only flip between the two games, but also update these with new numbers. A couple of minor issues have been corrected.
Version 1.1.1 corrects the handling of multitouch gestures in iOS 5 with changes the touchesCancelled method. This is primarily of interest to iPad users, but since this version shares essential code with the iPad version, it has also been updated. In addition, some memory leaks have [hopefully] been eliminated. October, 2011.
Version 2 is completely rewritten for iOS 7 and the 4 inch screen. While the original 2008 app had to be made using code only, todays version is built graphically with Interface Builder and Storyboards. The original had buttons made from resizable images, the new version draws the numbers using Core Graphics. The larger screen of the latest hardware offers space for 1-2 rows of sorted numbers that should make it easier to use the random selections. September, 2013.
Version 2.1 is updated for iOS 8 and the iPhone 6. November, 2014.

Downloads

iTunes link: Lotta!.

E-mail your thoughts on the app to:

Lottery: A tax on people who are bad at math.